Holiday favourites

So, as I said, I recently jetted off to the Greek island of Zakynthos for a blissful week of sunning myself, eating far too much and generally enjoying not being at work. I was always intending on doing a bit of a mammoth Prickly Heat post in relation to my holiday, but then whilst doing some of the photos I also thought, screw it, why not chuck in some of my holiday favs.

Seeing as the weather has distinctly deteriorated since my return this is potentially not my most useful post ever, but damnit I've been on holiday, so a holiday post I shall do...

So, these were my little holiday wonder products this year....what a motley crew.

Back row from left - Victorias Secrets Coconut Passion body spray; Garnier Ambre Solaire Advanced Sensitive Aftersun; Tresemme Platinum Strength Leave-In Conditioner; Revlon Equave Instant Detangling spray; Magicool Plus Prickly Heat.
Front row from left - Ultrasun Medium SPF20 sun cream; Superdrug nailpolish remover pads; Bioderma Sensibio micellar water.

The Ultrasun sun cream, Magicool Plus Prickly Heat spray and Ambre Solaire Sensitive After Sun are all reviewed in my prickly heat post here.

Victoria's Secrets Coconut Passion body spray

My little sister got me into this.  She came back from a jaunt to Westfield Shopping Centre with it...gave me a whiff, and I was instantly hooked.  It smells SO. NICE.  This one is their vanilla and coconut scent and it is so sweet and coconutty - it was perfect for holiday.  The bottle is really big and cost £11, which seems a lot for a body spray, but trust me this performs way more like a perfume than your bog standard Impulse body spray.  The scent sticks around for ages on your skin, and you only need 1-2 sprays to get a good level of smellage.  Victoria's Secrets do a wide range of these body sprays and I'm keen to road test some more (maybe something more musky for winter?)  They all come in these bright, decorative bottles which look great on your dressing table.  And honestly, it smells so potent and scrummy.  I'm literally smelling myself right now.

Revlon Equave Detangling Spray for Blonde Hair

I have no idea how this little beauty has stayed off my radar for so long.  I found it whilst Googling detangling sprays for blonde hair (as I'd got a bit bored of my usual Aussie one). Okay, first things first...it is PURPLE. Yesss. Love a bit of purple to kill my brassy tones.  This is designed to nourish, detangle AND tone your blonde hair and I was pretty goddamn impressed with it.  It is a two layer formula so you have to shake it up, and then you spritz all over your wet hair.  My tangle teezer definitely had an easier job getting through my hair, and once blow dried, there wasn't any oiliness or weighing down.  I can't tell how much punch the purple packs, as I use purple shampoo as well, so it is difficult to tease out the difference.  But as a detangling spray alone, this is a winner.  It is a fairly big bottle, set me back about a tenner, smells pretty and you can see how little I used despite having used it 3-4 times.  I just love the concept of this.  It is like a 4-in-1 little wonder product.  Bravo Revlon.

Bioderma Sensibio Micellar Water

As a blogger, I felt it my duty to include this in my life.  It has literally exploded onto the UK market following its trip over the pond, and I simply had to part with £4.50 to try out this mini version.  Right...so what do I think.  Genuinely?  I don't know. Hmm..helpful, I know.  This looks fresh.  The bottle looks clean, the water looks clear, the little pink lid is cute...you really want to like this.  It looks like it would purify even the most stubborn skin.  And yes, it does remove make-up like a dream.  I only used it for face make-up as I disagree that it 'melted' mascara away.  I pile my mascara on and this just didn't budge it easily.  But my face make-up? Wow.  The first time I swept my little Bioderma-soaked cotton wool ball over my face I was like Jeeeez, do I really have that much foundation on my face!?  It took about 3 cotton balls to clean my face, and when you pour this out you can feel the cotton wool just drinking it up.  This little bottle probably would have lasted me 2 weeks, tops. My skin didn't react to it, it felt gloriously clean after using it, but I just don't think my purse will let me fall in love with it.  I want to...I really want to.  But I think it would clean out my bank account just as quick as it cleans my skin.  It has aroused my interest in micellar water though, and I will be purchasing Superdrug's own version so I'll pop a post up on that once I've given it a good run.  Back to this post though, this little bottle was ideal for travelling, ideal for cutting through a sweaty, sun-creamed face, and left my skin feeling fresh and clean.  So for that purpose, I'd recommend it.

Tresemme Platinum Strength Leave-in Conditioner

I grabbed this because I wanted a new leave-in conditioner and it was on offer for £2.97 at Superdrug.  I knew the sun would wreck my heavily bleached hair, so I was on the hunt for a leave-in conditioner that would pack a punch.  I've dabbled with Tresemme's Platinum Strength range before and been impressed (see post here) and I wasn't disappointed by this.  I'm a pretty easygoing girl when it comes to leave-in conditioner...I want it to nourish my hair and I don't want it to leave my hair greasy or weighed down.  This ticked both boxes.  It has a really fresh, pretty scent and it did what it said on the tin (or bottle).  Do I want to rave about it? Na, not really.  Would I buy it again? Yes probably.  It is a good, safe product.  And when it came to soothing my sun-ravaged hair, it did the job.

Superdrug Nourishing Nail Polish Remover pads

This is a bit of a random post, as I don't think there's really much to review or say about nail polish remover.  But this is a tip of mine for holiday, as it is a really efficient way of taking your nailvarnish off, without the danger of packing a bottle of potent, risky-leaking nail varnish remover.  I always go for nourishing, and these little Superdrug ones contain thumbs-up ingredients like aloe vera and vitamin E.  At just a £1 they're a must for any travelling girly, and take the mess and fuss out of removing your nail varnish on holiday.

So, there we have it, my little wonder products from my jaunt abroad.  All that's left to do now is obviously post a few pics from my holiday.  Self-indulge alert.....look away now!

xxx

PRICKLY HEAT! Treatments and prevention tips

Right. Yes. Prickly heat.

My nemesis in the sun and the bane of my holidays for the last 3-4 years.

I don't know why I started getting prickly heat.  It sprung up a few years ago on a holiday to Crete, and covered my chest, arms and (most distressingly) my face.  Last week I went on holiday to the Greek island of Zante, and as this was my first holiday with my boyfriend (and looking vaguely attractive was therefore of utmost importance) before I went I literally trawled the internet for advice or tips at controlling my little skin complaint.

And..touch wood...I think I've found a combination of products which seem to work pretty well and I wanted to share my findings.  When I was doing my research there was a lot of stuff about how the only treatment for prickly heat is avoiding the sun. I did start to get the beginnings of prickly heat on my holiday, but I seemed to be able banish it away quite quickly.  Most importantly I didn't have to abort my sunbathing programme at all, or hide in the shade between 11am and 2pm, which I think was a bit of a success.

Personally, I found it was useful to work on the understanding that prickly heat is trapped sweat (yum). So anything that keeps your pores open and clean is a must. You're aiming to free your skin, not clog it.

Right, down to specifics...

Ultrasun Sensitive Medium SPF20
 

This sun cream kept cropping up on the forums and sites I was reading.  It is a tad on the pricey side - I paid £18 from M&S but you could probably find it cheaper online.  It comes across a lot more 'medical' than most other suncreams, and comes with a proper instruction leaflet and everything.  I could only find the 'glimmer' formula and the lowest SPF was 20 (they also do 50+) and I was a bit worried factor 20 might be too high and might stop me tanning.  It 100% didn't, and I swear my tan is more even than normal.

My favouritest thing about this is the consistency.  It is a very light cream, which pumps out easily, is mess-free and once rubbed in it literally disappears.  I have never felt so grease-free on holiday.  It was a revelation! The glimmer/shimmer is very fine but definitely noticeable and did feel a bit 1990's body glitter at first, but I got used to it. One 100ml bottle lasted me a week easily.  One tip though ....this says that it only requires 1 x a day application.  I wasn't comfortable with this, but went with it on the first day....and I burned.  Not badly, and only across my chest a bit, but after that I applied it after swimming and/or a 2nd time in the afternoon and despite the 30 degree heat I didn't burn any more the entire holiday. 

I've read that this is good for a range of skin complaints or for people who are generally a bit sensitive to the sun.  I loved it, and am definitely a convert.  It is my new sun cream wonder product.

Ambre Solaire Sensitive AdvancedAftersun with Cold Cream

Ooooo...Sensitive ADVANCED.  I wanted to include this as I do genuinely think it helped in my war against prickly heat. It is for fair, sensitive or sun-intolerant skin and I picked it up for a fiver from Asda.  It is enriched with cold cream...which I've heard of before but I'll be honest, I have nooo clue what it is good for.  You can also use it on your face which is a bonus. I found this to be really pleasant to use.  It has a bit of a random, cucumber-ish whiff to it, but it really feels like it is moisturising the skin despite being very light in texture.  I think when it comes to prickly heat, you need to keep every step of your skin care regime as light and "sensitive-based" as possible and this was perfect.  It is hypoallergenic, dermatologically tested, all singing, all dancing and I barely used any of it in a week so it is good value for money too.

Magicool Plus Prickly Heat

Now this is an intriguing little product.  I paid £8 for it from Superdrug and then bought another two cans when it went on offer for £2.63 at Tesco.  I strongly believe this is the heart of my prickly heat defence team, but I have absolutely no idea why it works.  It is one of a new range of 'Magicool Plus' products and it said it treats prickly heat, so I was on it like a little magpie.  It works on the same premise as the original Magicool, in that it is self-chilling (you can literally leave it lying in the sun) and sprays a fine, cold mist. It is meant to have histimine properties, soothing properties, cooling properties (read the blurb on the back of the can, it's impressive) and is completely sterile.  I was worried a can would run out really quickly, but I took 3 cans on holiday (ahem...slightly over the top) and only used up one.  And trust me, I was spraying this on liberally.  It cools your skin, it soothes the itch, it somehow calms the annoying tiny red rash you get with prickly heat.  I did have to keep spraying it on, and I still used it even when my prickly heat hadn't come out (prevent rather than cure I say).  But god knows how it did it, but it seemed to really keep my prickly heat at bay.  I will definitely not travel without it in future.


Garnier Pure Active Deep Pore Wash

So in keeping with the 'anti-clogging' theme, another tip I read about was to use a deep pore wash, or something with salicylic acid in it.  I picked this Garnier one up from Boots for £1.89.  Being a dry and sensitive skinned little lady, I've never ever dabbled in the world of deep pore, oily skin products.  This seemed cheap, and said it was pore unclogging, so I went for it and I think it worked as good as any.  My little sister uses a charcoal soap from Lush to declog her pores, and I have read that people with prickly heat also swear by charcoal-based products, but I guess they just work on the same basis as the deep pore wash.  I used this in the shower and just washed my 'problem areas' (i.e. chest, arms, thighs).  I think it helps the skin to breathe and any sweat or dirt to escape, so you aren't going out in the sun with your pores already clogged and choked up.  It's a really nifty, cheap little tip for prickly heat.


Sunbedding

Right.  I was genuinely nervous to post about this, and I still am, but I agreed to share my prickly heat tips and I can't shy away from the fact I do think this helped.

I didn't feel 100% comfortable using a sunbed, and I kept it to the minimum time of 2.5 minutes.  My aim was to slowly introduce my skin to UV rays and not to get colour.  I went 3 times a week for 4 weeks in a stand-up booth for 2.5 minutes at a time. 

My reason for using them was that a lot of advice said that prickly heat can be your skin reacting to sudden sun exposure, and not being able to efficiently get rid of sweat and the heat.  The intention was to slowly expose my skin so the sun wasn't quite so much of a shock when I went on holiday.

One thing I will say - using the bed for 2.5 mins every other day for 4 weeks didn't give me hardly any colour.  So I will never bother to use these for a tan - you'd have to use them SO much, and it isn't worth it for the health risks.  I still feel really guilty for using them and I don't know whether I would again (or whether I'd see if my wonder products alone are enough to kill the prickly heat).  But as I said, I wanted to share all of my prickly-heat experiments with you, and this was one of them.  Eek.

So, there you have it.....

These were my prickly heat findings..

I found it really helped to keep in my mind about keeping my skin clear, clean and cool.  I waited 10 minutes or so after a shower before applying any moisturiser so my skin could breathe, I stuck to loose clothing during the day to keep cool and breezy, and I took regular cool showers to soothe my skin after the sun. 

So just try and stick to those three C's...clean, clear and cool, and hopefully prickly heat will leave you the hell alone as well.

Real Techniques Blush Brush

One of the bonuses of trawling the beauty blogs like I do, is that you get to learn of products that maybe wouldn't have been on your radar if not.  A prime example of this is the Real Techniques (RT) Expert Face Brush by Samantha Chapman.

Samantha Chapman is obviously pretty infamous in the online beauty world thanks to her Pixiwoo Youtube make-up tutorials, but if you're new to the whole online blogs/tutorial videos thing, then this little wonder brush of hers could quite easily pass you by.

I have posted about the Expert Face Brush before, and I can firmly say that in my opinion this brush is unrivalled in liquid foundation application.  It makes it so much easier to buff the product into your skin, and I have come to realise this is key when it comes to bringing out the best in a lot of foundations. It's all about buffing rather than 'painting' the liquid on.

Following on from my obsession with the Expert Face brush, I decided to dabble with some of the brushes in the rest of her range, and bought the Blush Brush.  Bronzer is a staple of my make-up regime and this claimed to be good for contouring/bronzing.

I normally use a Bare Minerals blush brush for my bronzer, which I'll be honest, is very good.  It is smaller than usual brushes but this makes it easier to hold and use.  The bristles are also very densely packed but still soft, which I like, but it does end up putting quite a lot of product on your face.  Having said that, it's a good little blender and I always end up with an even finish.

Right, at this point I have to be completely honest with you, a week or so ago when I first used the RT Blush brush, I wrote a pretty unenthusiastic review on it.  It was all drafted and ready to upload, but then the more I used the brush, the more I felt my first impression was wrong.

I think my initial concern was that the RT blush brush was the complete opposite to my Bare Minerals (BM) one, in that it was much larger (brush and head size) and the bristles were a lot softer and looser.  By virtue of these points, the way the brush worked was always going to be different but I (maybe stupidly) was expecting it to be the same.

So to describe the RT brush, the bristles are mega soft and although quite densely packed, are still quite loose and floppy.  It definitely doesn't have the rigidity of the BM brush, or of a typical kabuki type brush.

The head of the brush is also quite large, and I've read several blogger reviews which have said this lets the product down, as it covers quite a large area of your face.  It means you can't be quite as precise with where you put your bronzer/blusher.  You can see in the photo below that it covers quite a large area of my cheek.

When you swirl the brush in your bronzer though, it is only really the tip that picks up the powder because of how floppy the brush is.  There seems to be a lot of brush that just doesn't get used.  This does mean the application is more precise than the brush-size suggests, but it also makes me wonder why they didn't just make the brush smaller.  I'm guessing the bulk at the bottom of the bristles is there for a reason, it probably helps the movement of the tips.

You can see the size difference between the blush brush on the left and the expert face brush on the right.  You can also sort of see the difference in density, as the expert face brush is sooo tightly packed, whereas you can see the blush one is looser and more feathery.


I used the brush with my Sleek Contour kit and when I swirled the brush in the powder, it didn't feel like it was taking as much product up as my BM one does. I gave the brush a tap to knock off any excess bronzer, then went in for the application.

One thing is for definite, this applies the bronzer much more lightly.  Having said that, as I continued to use it, I noticed it still needed quite a bit of buffing in order to get an even finish.  The Sleek Contour bronzer is quite pigmented and does have a tendency to be a tad uneven, but I definitely had to give it some welly with the buffing to really even the colour out.

My original review then went on to slate this brush for its "weak" application, and the fact it didn't give me a very precise contour line due to the size of the brush head.  However, on using this more and more, I've noticed that maybe it just works in a different way.  Whereas the BM one packs the colour on and you blend it out, this one builds the colour up.  You end up with the same result at the end.  And I'll be honest, this brush has really, really grown on me.  It does cover a bigger space on my face, but it also gives an almost airbrushed even-ness after buffing, and because the bristles are so soft and loose you don't end up irritating your cheek with all the buffing (nor do you rub off any foundation or concealer).

I actually quite love the gentle application of this brush now, and it is also ideal for dusting colour over your forehead, chin, nose etc. There is something a bit frustrating about how loose the bristles are...I can't help buffing away thinking 'grrr, just give me a bit more oomph' but bronzer is not something to be slapped on so I can see why the brush is like this.

I'd definitely continue to use my BM brush for stronger, more precise contouring and probably for blusher.  I haven't tried the RT brush for blusher yet, but I have small cheeks and I think this will just put colour over far too large an area.  I think the RT brush will come into its own in Winter though, when I need a bit less colour and more of a gentle wash of warmth.

If I were to give any tips on using this brush, I'd say stick with it and practise the application.  Trust the floppiness of the bristles and just keep buffing like you would with a more densely packed brush, and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised with the result. The Expert Face brush is also a bit of move away from traditional foundation brushes, and maybe this blush one is the same. I was just a little more stubborn with this one it seems...

Charles Worthington Moisture Seal Mineral Hair Rescue Masque

I'm a self-confessed floozy when it comes to cosmetics.  I fall for the chat every time, and if a shiny new product comes out promising to make me beautiful, then I'm sold.  I have a wicker storage box at home which is positively bursting with half-used products which I've dabbled with, been unimpressed by, but refuse to throw out because I spent hard-earned cash on them.

If a product gets repurchased, that's a big deal in my world.  But even more rare, is a bulk buy.  Cosmetics are often on 3 for 2 or buy-one-get-one-free type offers, but these tend to be across brands or ranges, and therefore these deals are often a great excuse for me to buy items I couldn't normally justify (I mean, they're practically free, right?)

But recently I took advantage of an offer like this to actually, genuinely bulk buy.  Here's the proof....

The product which made its way into the hallowed halls of my bulk-buy hall of fame, is Charles Worthington's Moisture Seal Mineral Hair Rescue Masque.

I first came across an ancestor of this product years ago whilst at university, and whilst on a mission to get shiny, soft hair ready for graduation (because obviously shiny hair is a must for graduation). Back then the product was called Mineral Hair Spa Rescue Treatment, and looked like this........

I LOVED this stuff.  It was my first tentative little foray into hair treatments and I was highly impressed.  But then it seemed to disappear off the shelves a bit, it came back in a tub, then CW changed their packaging and it didn't seem they'd retained it in their product range.  I've dabbled with other treatments in the past (see reviews on Tresemme Platinum Strength range and Herbal Essences Bee Strong Intensive Mask) but always found them to somewhat coat your hair.

So I was mooching around the haircare aisle in Boots the other day and noticed the CW Mineral Hair Rescue (£5.99).  It had the words 'mineral' and 'rescue' in the title, and the blurb on the back talked about 'marine extracts' just like the old Hair Spa one. Exciting! So I bought it, tried it, and bloody loved it.

It seems to be a refinement of the old Hair Spa product rather than a replica, and I'll be honest, it is SUCH a good hair treatment. 

The product comes in a flip-lid tub which is sealed on purchase.  This always makes me think it is more effective, as if the goodness might sneak out if it isn't sealed in.

 

The actual hair mask is a white, thick, gloopy cream with a really gentle but sweet smell.  It is the exact same scent used in the CW Intense Rescue Melting Balm and I've read a lot of blogs raving about the fragrance.  The smell stays on your hair as well, which is always a bonus.

To use it, you just scoop a load out of the tub and smooth it over your wet hair.  I concentrate on the ends of my hair (about 2/3rds down) and then use what is left on my hands just to lightly wipe over the upper 2/3rds of my hair (so as not to make it greasy).  I never leave it on for more than 2-3 minutes  (even though the tub says 5) as I get bored in the shower, and with 3 other women in my house, you don't get much shower down-time.

One of the weird things about this product is it leaves your hands with a clean, squeaky feeling after you've smoothed the cream on.  It doesn't feel oily or greasy, it actually feels quite fresh which is really unusual for moisturising treatments.

But this is kind of reminiscent of what the results are like as well.  Hands down, this leaves my hair SOFT.  As you probably know, my hair is platinum blonde and bleached to within an inch of its life.  It is also thick and long.  This is the only treatment I have used which genuinely leaves my hair feeling healthier and softer to the touch, with no greasy residue or coating.  My hair feels freshly washed and 'swishy' but still soft, and this is REALLY difficult to achieve with most high-street moisturising treatments.

I mentioned earlier about the CW Intense Rescue Melting Balm and I'm probably going to  be stepping out on my own with this comment, but I think the Mineral Hair Rescue Masque is better than the Melting Balm. And it is also £11 cheaper. Ouch.  It just made my hair softer and was less hassle to use.  Having discovered the Mineral Hair Rescue Masque, I definitely wouldn't repurchase the Melting Balm.

There's 100% something about this product which makes your hair just feel better, more healthy, more nourished but it is more of an honest softness because you don't feel like it has just coated your hair.  I got about 5 uses out of the tub, which isn't brilliant, but I do have thick long hair and it still works out about a £1 a use, so that's not too painful, especially if you use it as a treat rather than an everyday conditioner. I also think that if you have fine hair or hair that gets easily greasy, then give this a try as I think you'd find it doesn't weigh your hair down as much as other conditioning treatments.  Plus if you bulk buy (i.e. 3 for 2) it only works out about £4 each! Bargain!

Right that's me done.  Go buy it.

Nivea In Shower Body Lotion for Very Dry Skin

I can remember once hearing someone say that it must be really difficult to be an inventor in today's world, because basically all the good stuff has been invented already.  I often think this is true of the cosmetics world as well.  If you think about it, most "new" products are just better versions of something already out there...'better' anti-wrinkle cream, 'more natural' foundation, 'more voluminous mascara'.  So when something genuinely new hits the shelves, it's going to get a little blogger like me just a teeny-tiny bit excited.

So here it is, Nivea's new in-shower body lotion! Oooooo.......

Basically the premise behind this new-kid-on-the-block is that you can moisturise in the shower. Novel, I know (I wasn't lying).  I've personally not seen anything like this before, other than maybe shower oils, but even they don't claim to be able to completely wipe out the need for a bit of post-shower moisturisation. 

Now it is times like this I love being a blogger.  I feel obliged, as a dry skinned young lady, to review this on my blog.  Excuse to purchase?  Yes I think so.

ANYWAY.  I'll admit I was genuinely drawn to this, as I have very dry skin and therefore have to moisturise my entire body after every shower otherwise I shrivel like a prune.  And I'll be honest, moisturising is boring.  At the same time though, I was massively sceptical about this.  Massively.

The product comes in a beefy 400ml squeezy bottle, but I think I'm going to get through this quicker than I think as it gets a bit addictive when you're slapping it on in the shower. The cream itself is a pretty standard body lotion consistency with the generic Nivea scent, and you basically rub it everywhere then rinse it off.  The rinsing intrigued me....I expected this to be more like a leave-in hair conditioner but for your body..but anyway. I rinsed as instructed.

The first thing that struck me is that you still feel clean when you come out of the shower.  My experience of shower oils (other than being one big old slip hazard) is that you come out of the shower feeling like you have a film over your skin.  This definitely doesn't feel like that.  You still feel clean and showered which I think is a really good point about the product.

Despite feeling clean though, my skin still felt soft.  Even half an hour or so after showering, I hadn't pruned up and my skin still felt supple and soft (rather than 2 sizes too small like it normally would if I hadn't moisturised).  Don't get me wrong, I didn't feel as moisturised as I do after using my normal body lotion, but then I use pretty heavy-duty, dry skin lotions and most people hate the feel of those. Either way I can firmly say I was impressed.  The moisturisation seemed to last all day and apart from a cheeky application of moisturiser to my shins, I didn't need to apply body lotion at all during the day.  What a little beauty!

Having said that, the second time I used this, I did feel a bit drier and a bit prune-y.  I'm not sure if it was a bit in my head, as my brain was thinking "woah woah woahhh, you missed the moisturiser!?" But as I have said before, my skin is DRY.  I think if you have normal-dry skin or just normal skin, this could be a blinder of a product for saving time or even for people who normally can't be bothered to moisturise.

This is going to sound a random comment, but other than when I am in a mega rush, I think the other time I'll end up using this product is before I fake tan.  I once read that fake tan goes on less evenly when applied over body lotion (something to do with the lotion sinking into your body at differing rates).  I've always had a problem with this because I have to heavily moisturise as fake tan can also cling to dry patches on your skin, and will come out much darker on drier areas (oh hello catch 22 situation).  I think however, that this product might be my compromise.  It moisturises me enough to stop me drying up, but it doesn't appear to leave a film which might interfere with my fake tan. Wonderful.

Either way, I'd recommend giving this a go as I think it's a neat little time saver and a genuinely innovative new product that's worth a look.  Oh and well done for hanging in there, because this was rather a long post about a body lotion.  Go reward yourself by having a shower.

Signing out...x

Bronzers - Too Faced, Hoola and Sleek Face Contour Kit

I decided recently to do a bit of a bronzer post, as I'm definitely a bronzer girl rather than a blusher girl, but I'm also very fussy with my bronzers.

 

My pet hate is orange bronzers.  Get them in Room 101, I hate them.  I've seen other people suit them, but for me they are the devil of the make-up world.  I think it is partly because I don't have very smooth, even skin, so highlighting all my bumps and dry patches with an interesting shade of satsuma is not ideal.

 

For the same reason I hate sparkle.  Whyyyy do bronzers always have to be sparkly.  No, they don't give me a post-holiday glow, they give me a circa-1990's body glitter look. It is almost like I'm saying "did you not see my spot? Hold on, let me stick some glitter on it so you can see it better" No. Naughty sparkly orange bronzers. 

 

So my bronzer needs to be matte, and it needs to be non-orange.  And this is not an easy ask if you're looking for high street bronzers.  I'll be honest, I've never dabbled in higher end bronzers like Nars or Chanel, because I can't afford them so why even open that box.

 

But on my ultimate quest for the perfect bronzer, I have found 3 little beauties which satisfy the high-maintenance bronzer-diva in me.  They are the Sleek Contour Kit in 'Light', Benefit Hoola and Too Faced Chocolate Soleil. Ta daaaaa....



 

These differ significantly in price.  Sleek is £6.49, Benefit Hoola is £23.50 and Too Faced Chocolate Soleil is £25 (and quite tricky to get hold of in the UK - I found it on ASOS.com)

Up until about 2 weeks ago, this post would have entirely been about Hoola.  I am a self-confessed Hoola addict.  I love it. 

The powder is completely matte (absolutely noo sparkle) and is a really complimentary coffee/chocolate shade.  It almost looks like a creamy coffee or a hot chocolate type colour.  It is very slightly muddy in colour, which may put some people off, but I love it for it. I use it more as a contour than a blusher/bronzer, but this is always where I apply my bronzer. It goes on quite pigmented and you do need to give it a good buff and blend, but stick with it, keep buffing and you'll be left with a really natural glow.  I'd especially recommend the shade if, like me, you prefer yellow-based foundation - it compliments it so much better.  I wear this to death in the summer as I think it genuinely gives me a natural looking tanned face when dusted on my 'sun catching' areas.  It lasts quite a decent amount of time too, but when you get to the stage mine is at in the photo above, it gets difficult to get the product out from the edges of the box. I normally scrape a bit of powder off with a hair grip then dust that on.

But for 100% definite, this is my beloved no.1 bronzer. Anyone who is orange-phobic like me, I'd definitely recommend it. 

Another bronzer I enjoy is the Chocolate Soleil Medium/Dark by Too Faced.

I came across this after a LOT of research online and bought some in House of Fraser.  This has a delicious chocolate scent and a big mirror in the lid.  Again, the colour is (as the name suggests) a very chocolate-y hue.  It is extremely similar to the Hoola bronzer and the only thing that would stop me repurchasing is the price.  I'd say the texture is creamier and smoother than Benefit Hoola, but the pigmentation is just as strong and again I'd recommend much buffing.  Again though, the colour is just so much more reminiscent of a natural tan. Of the three, this is maybe ever so slightly more orange based, but it only means the colour is a bit warmer than the Hoola.  It blends really nicely and is an excellent contour shade.  It is also 100% mattte and lasts well on the skin.  If this were cheaper than Hoola I'd probably buy it more, but there's nothing about it that makes me want to spend the extra £1.50 to get it.

My final bronzer of the pack is a new addition to my collection and is the Sleek Contour Kit.

This first dropped on my radar whilst watching a blog video by Zoella, and the name rang a bell which means it must have twigged my interest before as well.  I am ever on the search for a cheaper version of Hoola for 'everyday' wear, so I decided to buy this at £6.49 from the Sleek website.  First things first, I'm not going to be talking about the highlighter side of this product.  It massively upsets me.  It is SO shiny and pink, and it takes up over a 3rd of the palette and it needs to be gone.  If you wear highlighter, then I think as highlighters go it is pretty okay, but my fear of sparkle prevails.

I bought the kit in the 'Light' shade and was worried it might be too light, but my fears swung the other way when I opened it as the bronzer bit looks DARK.  It also looked quite orange (oh god). But I have genuinely been quite pleasantly surprised by this.  I'll be honest, you can tell from the consistency that it is cheaper than the other two.  It isn't as smooth or creamy and feels a bit drier. But the colour is actually not too orange, and it is completely matte which I love.  I think the cheaper texture means it does take a LOT more blending.  The first time I put it on I was like 'oh god, I look like a child has wiped a chocolatey finger down my face' but keep blending, keep buffing, and the end result is even and a really nice gentle brown. I've been wearing this as my everyday bronzer and will now be keeping Hoola for special occasions.  It 100% isn't as good as Hoola, but as a cheaper but viable alternative, it is a winner.

Here is a little photo of the Sleek bronzer on....

With regard to difference in colour, I swatched the three below and you can see there really isn't much difference in shade.  Hoola is probably the most yellow-based and you can see from the swatches what I mean about the Sleek one being slightly less refined in terms of texture and blending. But bearing in mind the £18 price difference, you can't really argue it.

So, if like me you aren't a fan of a sparkly orange bronzer and want a more natural tan shade, then these are my recommendations.  I've tried many other bronzers - Body Shop, Rimmel, Clinique, L'Oreal - the only one missing from here which is maybe eligible for my club would be the Bourjois chocolate bronzer, but I still found this a tad on the orange side.

With regard to application you can see where I apply it under my cheek bones, and I swear by my Bare Minerals blusher brush which is small enough to get a defined area, but still big enough to buff and blend.  I can't get on with big ol' kabuki brushes as they cover too much of my face.  Generally I'd say bronzer takes practice, but persevere..it really warms your face up and defines/slims it.  And the three bronzers above are much easier to blend colour-wise if you're a novice. Just remember blend, blend, buff, blend, buff......

Sinful Colors - 850 Big Daddy

So, here comes another nail varnish post..yayyy..another excuse to get my wrinkly little hands out there on the internet.

Now, a few months ago I was having an idle little wander in my local Boots and I spied a new nail varnish range, on a stand, over by the food section.  New ranges always excite me.  They offer potential...they could be your new dream nail varnish sitting right there, on a stand, by the food section.

The cosmetics snob in me (I'll be honest) spied the £1.99 price tag though and the somewhat interestingly titled "Sinful Colors" and thought hmm...maybe not for me. I'd never heard of the range and for £1.99 how good could they be. And why were they by the food section?  Were they not goof enough for the cosmetic section? Purchase temptation over.

But the intrigue got the better of me and I decided to Google them.  They are an American company launching over here and the photos on blogs looked quite impressive coverage-wise etc. So when I was back in Boots (this happens a lot) I decided to try a few colours out on my nails.  10 multi coloured nails later and I had 5 pots in my hand, which I was staring at trying to force myself to buy only one.  I swear the people in Boots must think I am so strange, but they make so much money out of me I doubt they question it.

Anyway.  Firstly the colour range is HUGE.  The Sinful Colors stand is like a big rainbow of nail varnishes and a lot of them are in highly wearable colours (aside from a few questionable sparkly yellows in between).

I found about 6-7 really nice, juicy red/coral/pinky shades and really struggled to pick between them.  I settled on 850 Big Daddy, which is an orange-red, as I don't own any orange-reds (that's my justification anyway.)

The first coat went on easily although there is definitely a slight jelly-like consistency to this nail varnish.  I don't know if this is typical of the whole range as not all of the testers I tried seemed jelly-like, so it might differ from colour to colour.  The coverage wasn't amazing on the first coat.  It wasn't the worst I've had but it certainly wasn't the best by a long shot.  It was quite watery and there's no way you could get away with just one coat of this.

First coat

The second coat went on with a much deeper coverage (although I think I applied it slightly thicker too) and the colour really started to 'pop'.  I applied a third coat as the second coat had that really annoying finish that you get with some nailvarnishes, where you can still see the 'white' of your nail through the colour.  I hate this. It might be due to the jelly consistency though, as by nature jelly nailvarnishes are more transparent.

After 3 x coats and no top coat

Having said that though, for £1.99 I'm pretty impressed with this nail varnish.  I think the coverage after the 3rd coat is really good and the colour was really bright and juicy looking.  It dried pretty quickly after 3 coats, and I also didnt need to apply a clear top coat as the finish was surprisingly really glossy.

You get a really decent sized bottle for your money, and the nail varnish really is pretty faultless for such a cheap price.  It beats the Collection 2000 ones I have used before which are £2-3, as the application was much smoother and the colour richer.

I am 100% going to try some more colours, partly to see if the jelly-consistency is typical across the range. If it is, that's a bit of a shame, but still not enough to deter me from buying again.  I think the beauty with this range is you can dabble in colours and experiment with them, as they are so reasonbly priced.  I also whale through certain colours (i.e. coral reds in summer and deep berries in winter) so if a bottle is only costing me £1.99 it isn't quite as painful on the bank balance.  I'm excited to try some of their deeper colours too, and see if they bring out any more dark colours around winter as their range is very cocktail brights at the moment (I'm assuming for a summer launch).

I just hope they don't disappear from my local store, because they didn't exactly look like they'd be flying off the shelves - maybe for the same reason that originally put me off.  But I say give them a go, I think you'll be impressed.